$100K Reward To Catch Person Behind Needles In Strawberries

Newsroom

Posted on September 17, 2018
by Olivia Esveld

As the strawberry sewing needle scandal continues to spread, officials are doing anything possible to catch the person behind the scandal with a major reward now being offered to help catch Queensland’s strawberry spiker.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has put up a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the person or persons responsible for spiking strawberries with needles.

This reward comes as the contaminated strawberry scandal continues to spread, with up to six brands now believed to be affected nationwide, resulting in Coles and Aldi now joining Woolworths in pulling their supplies from the shelves.

Police began an investigation into the incident this week after sewing needles were discovered in strawberries sold in Victoria and Queensland, however, the crisis has since spread further to NSW, ACT and South Australia.

The six brands believed to be affected by the contamination include, ‘Berry Obsession’, ‘Berry Licious’, ‘Love Berry’, ‘Donnybrook Berries’, ‘Delightful Strawberries’, and ‘Oasis’.

These brands are all sold in stores across NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.

Police in NSW have so far received reports that strawberries containing needles were purchased from supermarkets in Tweed Heads, Taree and Wingham. This follows reports of contaminated strawberries in Queensland and Victoria.

At this stage it is unclear if the contaminated strawberries originated from the supplier in Queensland that is at the centre of this scandal or if they are copycat incidents.

All shoppers are now being to cut open their strawberries before eating them.

“They are not only endangering people’s lives, they are threatening an entire industry,” said the Premier to The Courier-Mail. “We’re not going to stand for it. We have to come together.”

Acting Chief Superintendent Terry Lawrence said the investigation was complex and wouldn’t comment on whether police had any suspects, however, last week it was reported that the person behind the contamination could be a disgruntled ex-employee.